John “Stuttering” Melendez

John Melendez presently works as the announcer for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” which saw its last episode on Friday night. After a run for 17 years, and appearances from prolific celebrities, Jay Leno bid adieu to the show amidst applause and laughter. In his “Thank you” speech, Leno mentioned people who had made the show “possible,” aiming at some of the targets of his frequent punch-line -”Michael Jackson,” “Bill Clinton” and “Monica Lewinsky.” Jay Leno will be succeeded by Conan O’Brian on “The Tonight Show“, who was also his last guest on the show. James Taylor was the final musical guest and he performed his number “Sweet Baby James.” Jay Leno will be launching a new show in September in the 10 pm slot, on NBC.

Jay Leno had once made John Melendez shave his hair off on-air, after losing a bet Leno had made on air on his behalf. John Melendez is an avid New York Giants fan. In fact he is often seen drinking from a Giants mug on the sets of “The Tonight Show”.

John Melendez has worked as an announcer for “The Tonight Show” since March 2004, replacing Edd Hall. He had to go through a Speech Coach in order to get over his stuttering. He is sometimes called Stuttering John, a name he chooses to ignore. He has said that sometimes it happens that people actually get mad at him because he didn’t stutter.

He earlier used to do “The Howard Stern Show.” It was in this show that he was known as Stuttering John. John Melendez is a comedian who mostly relies on shock value humor, a trend he observes is dying slowly.